The media. Political parties. Government. The big institutions that once defined America have become more and more fragile as they have struggled to adapt to our increasingly connected world. Harvard’s Nicco Mele talks about how these institutions started crumbling - and what we can do to build them back up.

Three Takeaways

Institutions - like the media - that were such a big part of 20th-century life have become weaker, and even compromised, because people are able to connect outside of them.

News outlets are struggling to both inform the public and take care of their bottom line, according to Mele. “The media has a long history of trying to balance substance with things people want to buy, read and watch,” he says. “That balance is out of whack in an unhealthy way for the future of the country.”

Despite its current decline, Mele is optimistic about the future of the media. Because companies like Google and Facebook need quality content for their users to search and share, they will eventually have an economic incentive to support the creation of such content.

More Reading

Nicco Mele explores how the Internet has changed political campaigns on the Harvard PolicyCast.